Friedmans make their annual trip to Daytona for Rolex 24

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Cory (left), Gordon (center) and Adam Friedman celebrating their qualifying run for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on Thursday.

Once a year, the Friedman family takes the ultimate road trip — driving 24 hours in Daytona.

Since 2001, West Ashley-based Autometrics Motorsports, led by patriarch Gordon Friedman and sons Adam and Cory, has participated in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. This year's race begins Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and will end Sunday at the same time.

The race takes place on Daytona International Speedway's 3.56-mile road course and is expected to attract more than 60 vehicles in two divisions of racing. It's a grueling test of endurance for both the vehicles and the teams. Autometrics will take more than 30 crewmembers to support two cars with four drivers each.

"Last year's event was huge and they're talking about it being even bigger this year," said Cory, who drives for one of Autometrics' two entries.

This year's event is definitely bigger for Autometrics. For the first time, they've hired a professional driver to handle its second car.

David Murry, who has made appearances in NASCAR as a road-race specialist, has been added to the roster and marks a big step forward for the team.

"We've always had a reputation as a team that does the most with what it's got," Gordon said. "This is the first time we've been able to hire professional drivers other than Cory. The stronger the driver lineup, the better the odds.

"This puts more pressure on us as a team. We have a higher profile driver. We've had club guys drive for us and they've done well, but our expectations then were to finish in the top 10. Now, it's the podium."

The team's best finish was in 2005, when it placed sixth in its class.

Gordon got involved in the road racing circuit in 1988, filling various roles for teams until he established his own team in 2001. He races modified Porsches in the GT class, which features cars that look like they could come from any showroom dealership — that is if you ignore the gutted out interior, the roll bar cage and other racing modifications. Gordon said the operation began to take off as his sons came of age.

"We've been doing street car Porsches for 25 years," he said. "Cory and Adam got out of Clemson and they helped me expand our intellectual resources."

Adam is the team engineer, and Cory, as the driver, has helped the team to a third-place finish in the point standings of the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Series.

This will be Cory's seventh trip to the Rolex 24, and he will be driving with one of the most experienced teams he's had. Anthony Lazzaro has been a part of a second-place team in 2003, and German-native Ralf Kelleners has been part of two winning teams. Their fourth driver is Mac McGehee, who has driven with Autometrics before and is one of the team's sponsors.

Cory said the key to the race is pacing and patience. Over 60 cars, representing two different car classes, will be on the track at the same time. The Friedmans race in the slower type of cars.

"You have to be careful and be very aware of what's going on out there," he said. "You can't fight for a spot like you do in a sprint race. You just have to run your race. Even if you're slow, if you finish, you should do better than most teams.

"You try to go quick enough to stay on the lead lap with the leader of your class. By early Sunday morning, you have an idea if you're racing for position or not."

The race has been marred by many cars breaking down during the course of the running, but the Friedmans said they can sense a change in competitiveness over the past five years.

"We've seen races where only 40-50 percent of the cars finish, but in more recent years, more of the cars are finishing and are more reliable," Gordon said.

The weeks leading up to the race is a pessimist's dream. The Friedmans try to account for anything that could go wrong with their car and except for the engine, bring enough parts to change out the car once or twice.

The team will go through about 18 sets of tires, but they have to bring two different types — slicks and all-weather — because the race isn't halted for rain or fog.

"I don't like driving in it, but for some reason, I seem to do well in it," Cory said.

Trickier than any weather conditions is identifying the inexperienced drivers which can ruin a day quickly. Gordon said he's seen one incident where a driver took out two of the leaders during a caution flag. The team also had a bad time in 2006 when their first car was totaled and after getting the second car on the track, the engine failed.

"That was a lot of work and little gratification," Gordon said.

Reach Bill Henley at 937-5595 or bhenley@postandcourier.com.